"Ironic" is a song by Canadian-American singer Alanis Morissette. It was released in February 1996 as the third single from her third studio album, Jagged Little Pill (1995). It was written by Morissette and Glen Ballard, and was produced by him. Maverick. "Ironic" is a pop rock song written in the key of B major, and includes a moderate tempo of eighty-two beats per minute. The lyrics present several situations which are said to be "ironic", which has led to debates about whether any of them fit the accepted meaning of irony.

"Ironic" was written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, and produced by the latter for her third studio album, Jagged Little Pill (1995).[1] In an interview with Christopher Walsh of Billboard, Ballard explained how he and Morissette met, and how "Ironic" was written. He commented: "I'm telling you, within 15 minutes we were at it—just writing. 'Ironic' was the third song we wrote. Oh God, we were just having fun. I thought 'I don't know what this is—what genre it is—who knows? It's just good‍ '​".[2] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, it is a pop rock song,[3] set in the time signature of common time, composed in a moderate tempo of eighty-two beats per minute.[4] It is set in the key of B major with Morissette's vocal range from the tone of E5 to B♭5, and "Ironic" chord progression starts with the sequence of Emaj7–F♯6–Emaj7–F♯6, before changing to F♯–Badd2–F♯–G♯m7 in the chorus.[4]

The song's usage of the word "ironic" attracted media attention for an improper application of the term, because according to Jon Pareles of The New York Times, the song gives a distinct "unironic" sense in its implications.[5][6] According to the Oxford English Dictionary "irony" is "a figure of speech in which the intended meaning is the opposite of that expressed by the words used".[7] Thus, lyrics such as "It's like rain on your wedding day" and "A traffic jam when you're already late" are not ironic.[8] Morissette commented about the writing of the song: "For me the great debate on whether what I was saying in 'Ironic' was ironic wasn't a traumatic debate. I'd always embraced the fact that every once in a while I'd be the malapropism queen. And when Glen and I were writing it, we definitely were not doggedly making sure that everything was technically ironic".[8]

Comedian Ed Byrne performed a skit in which he jokingly attacked the song for its lack of ironies: "The only ironic thing about that song is it's called 'Ironic' and it's written by a woman who doesn't know what irony is. That's quite ironic."[8] Also satirists Berger and Wyse parodied the song in one segment of their cartoon stripThe Pitchers. In that episode, a superhero named "Irony Man" compared his superpowers to lyrics from Morissette's song, causing his cohorts to rename him "The Man from Alanis".[9] In December 2009, the comedy website CollegeHumor released a spoof video of the song called "Actually Ironic", featuring actress Sarah Natochenny, in which Patrick Cassels amended the lyrics in a form that would be appropriately ironic.[10][11] The CollegeHumor spoof was replicated in July 2013 by sisters Rachael and Eliza Hurwitz, from New York City, who published their version on YouTube.[12] The sisters sing the line "We fixed it for you, Alanis. You're welcome." throughout their "It's Finally Ironic" video.[13] In July 2014, "Weird Al" Yankovic released his album Mandatory Fun. The song "Word Crimes", which spoofs the misuse of proper English grammar, was included. Yankovic makes in it and its music video a reference about Morissette's lyrics by singing "Irony is not coincidence", and the respective music video shows a fire truck burning (depicted as "Irony") compared with rain during a wedding (which is described as "Weather").[14]

In 2014, Michael Reid Roberts penned for Salon.com a defense of the song's use of the term "ironic", as the song cites situational ironies,[15] which is defined as the "state of affairs or event[s] that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result",[16] as some of the situations described in the lyrics could in fact be said to be "ironic".[15]

Also in 2014, Michael Stevens of the YouTube channel Vsauce devoted time to the discussion of irony in the August 12th episode "Dord." In this video, Stevens considers the difference between the typically cited "situational" irony, versus "dramatic" irony. According to him, the irony of the song may not necessarily be in the situations themselves, but rather in the dramatic irony - when someone is unaware of the significance of the event while others are. The situations aren't ironic themselves, but life itself is ironic. It is a song about "the difference between what life knows we need, and what life thinks we need. What's ironic is not 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife, it's the fact that, as Alanis believes, you have all of those spoons because, unbeknownst to you, but known by life, what you really need right now is only spoons... or the last thing you need right now is a knife."[17]

Jaime Gill from Dot Music commented on the original version of "Ironic", on his review of Jagged Little Pill Acoustic (2005), that "[Jagged Little Pill] gave us pop's greatest parlour game, with spot the genuine irony in 'Ironic'" and calling the song "pretty" and "catchy". But he later criticized the lyrics, calling the song "idiotic", and giving a positive review to the acoustic version saying: "it actually sounds more relaxed and engaging without the hoary loud guitars of the original".[18] Even though Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic marked the track as one of the "All Media Guide track pick" of the album,[19] in a separate review, from the same website, the CD single release was rated with two-and-a-half out of five stars.[3] Pareles noted that in verses of "Ironic", and another song from the album ("Mary Jane"), "it's easy to envision Morissette on the stage of a club, singing wry couplets backed by acoustic guitar".[20] He also commented in another article he wrote, that the song was actually "unironic".[6] Dave Brecheisen of PopMatters felt that the acoustic version of "Ironic", was much worse than the original version.[21] The single won the Juno Award for Single of the Year at the 1997 ceremony,[22] and in the same year it was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the category of Record of the Year.[23][24][25]

"Ironic" debuted on the Canadian RPM Singles Chart at number ninety-five on the issue dated January 8, 1996.[26] Twelve weeks later the track topped the chart, on April 1, 1996,[27] staying there for six weeks,[28] being replaced by "Closer to Free" by American band BoDeans.[29] Spending twenty-nine weeks within the top 100, it was last seen on July 22, 1996, at number eighty-one.[30] On other RPM charts, the single topped the Alternative 30 Chart and reached number six on the Adult Contemporary Chart.[31][32] The track debuted at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the highest debut on the issue ending March 16, 1996.[33] The single eventually reached its peak position, at number four, on April 13, 1996.[34] "Ironic" is currently Morissette highest-charting hit on the Hot 100 chart.[35] In other US charts, the single became her third number-one hit on the BillboardModern Rock Tracks,[36] where it stayed for three weeks.[33][37][38] The song topped the Mainstream Top 40, reached number five on Adult Top 40 chart and twenty-eight of the Adult Contemporary chart.[39]

In Australia, the song debuted at number forty on their singles chart.[40] In its eighth week, it peaked at number three on May 12, 1996, where it stayed for two weeks. It was last appeared on the chart on July 21, 1996, at number thirty-seven. To date, "Ironic" is her best charting song on the country.[40] The song was generally well-received throughout Europe. In the United Kingdom "Ironic" debuted and peaked at number eleven, on April 20, 1996. It left the chart eight weeks later, at number sixty-seven.[41] In the Norwegian Singles Charts, it debuted at number eighteen, rising to number seventeen the next week. It rose to number five on its third week, and later peaked at number four, staying there for five weeks. It later dropped one place, and remained there for another two weeks. "Ironic" kept within the chart for seventeen weeks.[42] In Belgium, it reached sixth place on the Ultratop 50 (Flanders region), and ninth place on the Ultratop 50 (Wallonia zone).[43][44]

The music video for "Ironic" was directed by Stéphane Sednaoui.[45][46] In the beginning of the video, Morissette is at a gas station, walking to her automobile with a cup of coffee in her hand. Then, she drives her car through a winter landscape, and she begins to sing the song's first verse. When it comes to the chorus, a second Morissette comes in. She is in a green sweater and sits in the backseat. When the first chorus ends, a third Morissette comes in, and she is in a yellow sweater with braided hair, also in the backseat. Along the way, the yellow Morissette is singing and eating at the same time, and when it comes to the second verse, a fourth and last Morissette comes in, she is in a red sweater sitting in the front passenger seat. During the second chorus, she climbs out of the window when they are still driving and almost gets knocked out by a bridge, but still manages a smile after doing so. The camera comes back to the driving Morissette, after the breakdown, and she takes off her hat, tosses it into the back seat, and becomes as loud as the other three while singing the song. When Morissette sings the outro, she is still driving through the winter landscape, and suddenly the car breaks down (possibly having run out of gas, which may be "ironic" in itself since the video started with her at a gas station.) Morissette (as the driver) gets out of the car, and all her "passengers" have disappeared.

Blaine Allan noted in the book Television: Critical Methods and Applications (2002) how Morissette interacts with the watcher. He commented that unlike Britney Spears' "Lucky" music video, where Spears plays dual role of a girl named "Lucky" and her fan, and both appear together in some scenes helped by visual effects, "Ironic" does not utilize them, using solely editing, giving the sense that all the Morissettes interact with each other.[47] Journalist Carol Vernallis also found that Morissette's "chitchat" way of singing the song creates an intimate connection viewer. She mentioned the video in her book Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context (2004), where she studied how the audience may pay attention to the lyrics of the song in a music video. Vernallis added that "Ironic" music video functions as a limited example of how the meaning of a song's lyrics become "inaccessible" when they are videotaped and televised.[48]

With "Ironic", Morissette denoted her support for same-sex marriage. In March 2004, Morissette amended a lyric at the fifteenth annual GLAAD Media Awards: "It's meeting the man of my dreams /And then meeting his beautiful husband".[63][64] She commented to USA Today that her support about same-sex unions "goes a step further than clever lyrics."[65] She remarked that "[her] fantasy would now be to marry some of [her] gay couple friends."[65] Later in June 2004, she said to VH1: "I don't have any gay-couple friends who are formally engaged, but I would be honored to support the gay community in that way ... I did it as a sort of spontaneous thing at a radio station about a month ago with a couple, and my heart was so with them."[63] Morissette recorded an acoustic version of the song with the changed lyric for her iTunes Originalsrelease, in 2004.[66] Another acoustic version was recorded for the album Jagged Little Pill Acoustic,[67][68] as well for the compilation album Cities 97 Sampler, Volume 16 (2004).[69] The song was also performed in a duo with Avril Lavigne at the House of Blues in 2005.[70]

^ abcHorberry, Roger (2010). Sounds Good on Paper: How to Bring Business Language to Life (XVII ed.). London, England: A & C Black Publishers Ldt. p. 136. ISBN978-1-4081-2231-0. OCLC659730168. A common misconception is that 'ironic' is a direct synonym for coincidental. The lyrics of Alanis Morissette's UK top 11 (and US top five) hit Ironic describe a number of apparently ironic situations, each verse ending with the refrain 'Isn't it ironic?' To which the answer must be a polite but firm 'no', as the lyrics are in fact a succinct explanation of what irony isn't. How ironic.